KAUST Library is a brand new organization that was opened in August of 2009. Built from scratch, it can be said the KAUST library started from point zero: whether it is organization structure, facilities and equipment, or human, information and intellectual resources. However, starting from zero does not mean starting from low: it is filled with modern library design ideas, equipped by advanced facilities and equipment, and had been implementing the most updated systems. This is a unity of contradictions, and this kind of environment brings to its staff members considerable and unprecedented challenges. As the first system librarian in the KAUST library who directly deals with cutting edge technology with updated high speed and ever more sophisticated networking relations with others, the systems librarian has to stand at the frontier to face the varieties of challenges presented. This paper tries to capture this rather specific but also a kind of typical background, using real world scenarios and first-hand experiences, to review the concept of the system librarian as a professional and its rapid evolution under the daily changing world; to reveal the on-going expanding and altering responsibilities in this position; to analyze its relationship with library itself, as well as with the other organizations within the campus (ex: campus IT). It will also explore and address how system librarians could wrestle these challenges.

Yi Yu. "The Role of Systems Librarian for Establishing and Developing A New Academic Library" This paper is presented for 17th Annual Conference of the Special Libraries Association Arabian Gulf Chapter on March, 2011in Muscat, Oman. (2011) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/yi_yu/2/

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